A level options to study Law
I’m starting Sixth Form next year, I've chosen to do Criminology, Sociology and Law. I’m worried about not being able to get into a good uni in the future since apparently these are considered as weaker options to study Law. I’m not interested in going to the top unis such as Oxford, Cambridge etc but ideally still a Russell Group. I really don’t want to do a traditional subject such as English or History. I’m predicted mostly 8s and some 7s in GCSES and I’m honestly now just stressing out please someone give me advice 😫
Reply 1
11
Hi - I’m going to apply to unis this year - possibly law. From what I’ve read, top unis prefer three strong academic A levels.
To me (though I may be wrong) your A levels seem a little bit too niche to be taken all together. Perhaps you could change criminology and sociology to something else: psychology, politics, philosophy, modern language, sciences. You said that you don’t want to do a traditional subjects (history and English) - do you like science or maths instead?
Perhaps you could do;
Law, politics, psychology…
Law, MFL, psychology…
I think subject wise, Law is a good subject to take, I think changing sociology to psychology, and criminology to something else would make your application more competitive to top universities.
Hope this helps!
To me (though I may be wrong) your A levels seem a little bit too niche to be taken all together. Perhaps you could change criminology and sociology to something else: psychology, politics, philosophy, modern language, sciences. You said that you don’t want to do a traditional subjects (history and English) - do you like science or maths instead?
Perhaps you could do;
Law, politics, psychology…
Law, MFL, psychology…
I think subject wise, Law is a good subject to take, I think changing sociology to psychology, and criminology to something else would make your application more competitive to top universities.
Hope this helps!
Reply 2
Original post
by livv17xxxxI’m starting Sixth Form next year, I've chosen to do Criminology, Sociology and Law. I’m worried about not being able to get into a good uni in the future since apparently these are considered as weaker options to study Law. I’m not interested in going to the top unis such as Oxford, Cambridge etc but ideally still a Russell Group. I really don’t want to do a traditional subject such as English or History. I’m predicted mostly 8s and some 7s in GCSES and I’m honestly now just stressing out please someone give me advice 😫
Law usually has no specific subject entry requirements.
The only thing I’d recommend checking is seeing in the universities that you’re looking to apply to accept Criminology or not. Criminology might be an issue (it’s technically a diploma AFAIK and not an actual A-level).
Otherwise pick 3 A-level subjects that you’re good at or think that you can get top grades in. The idea/obsession with weak vs strong subjects has been ditched by most universities.
Original post
by Kayak1Hi - I’m going to apply to unis this year - possibly law. From what I’ve read, top unis prefer three strong academic A levels.
To me (though I may be wrong) your A levels seem a little bit too niche to be taken all together. Perhaps you could change criminology and sociology to something else: psychology, politics, philosophy, modern language, sciences. You said that you don’t want to do a traditional subjects (history and English) - do you like science or maths instead?
Perhaps you could do;
Law, politics, psychology…
Law, MFL, psychology…
I think subject wise, Law is a good subject to take, I think changing sociology to psychology, and criminology to something else would make your application more competitive to top universities.
Hope this helps!
To me (though I may be wrong) your A levels seem a little bit too niche to be taken all together. Perhaps you could change criminology and sociology to something else: psychology, politics, philosophy, modern language, sciences. You said that you don’t want to do a traditional subjects (history and English) - do you like science or maths instead?
Perhaps you could do;
Law, politics, psychology…
Law, MFL, psychology…
I think subject wise, Law is a good subject to take, I think changing sociology to psychology, and criminology to something else would make your application more competitive to top universities.
Hope this helps!
OP’s A-levels are absolutely fine (unless universities like UCL and LSE who have a preferred subject list have Sociology on their “non-preferred” subject list, which they don’t, it’s on their preferred list). The only one that might objectively pose issue is criminology.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 3
I think your A-level choices as a group may appear weaker to the top end Russell Groups (say top 10 ranked). I would consider something more academic like History or English - I know you’ve said you don’t really want to do those, but I think one will stand you in a better place for applications.
Having said that, if you’re happy to look at mid to lower tier RG unis, you might be ok as many do not have specific criteria (you can check online). As others have said, be careful with your Criminology. I’d check the universities you’re interested in to see if they accept it. You might find that they do, but may not accept sociology etc alongside it. As they are not seen as preferred subjects at some unis.
Additionally, HE is going through a bit of a crisis. My sibling is applying this year for 2026 (not law), and they’ve found 3/6 of their top choices have dropped their entry requirements by one grade for 2026 v 2025. By 2030, the forecast for UK student roll numbers is set to drop compared to now. Alongside this and the cut in international student numbers, some universities may start to drop their admissions criteria a bit. It is doubtful it’ll be places like UCL, LSE etc. for law, but maybe places like Liverpool and Southampton etc. will.
Having said that, if you’re happy to look at mid to lower tier RG unis, you might be ok as many do not have specific criteria (you can check online). As others have said, be careful with your Criminology. I’d check the universities you’re interested in to see if they accept it. You might find that they do, but may not accept sociology etc alongside it. As they are not seen as preferred subjects at some unis.
Additionally, HE is going through a bit of a crisis. My sibling is applying this year for 2026 (not law), and they’ve found 3/6 of their top choices have dropped their entry requirements by one grade for 2026 v 2025. By 2030, the forecast for UK student roll numbers is set to drop compared to now. Alongside this and the cut in international student numbers, some universities may start to drop their admissions criteria a bit. It is doubtful it’ll be places like UCL, LSE etc. for law, but maybe places like Liverpool and Southampton etc. will.
Reply 4
Original post
by BarryScott2022I think your A-level choices as a group may appear weaker to the top end Russell Groups (say top 10 ranked). I would consider something more academic like History or English - I know you’ve said you don’t really want to do those, but I think one will stand you in a better place for applications.
Having said that, if you’re happy to look at mid to lower tier RG unis, you might be ok as many do not have specific criteria (you can check online). As others have said, be careful with your Criminology. I’d check the universities you’re interested in to see if they accept it. You might find that they do, but may not accept sociology etc alongside it. As they are not seen as preferred subjects at some unis.
Additionally, HE is going through a bit of a crisis. My sibling is applying this year for 2026 (not law), and they’ve found 3/6 of their top choices have dropped their entry requirements by one grade for 2026 v 2025. By 2030, the forecast for UK student roll numbers is set to drop compared to now. Alongside this and the cut in international student numbers, some universities may start to drop their admissions criteria a bit. It is doubtful it’ll be places like UCL, LSE etc. for law, but maybe places like Liverpool and Southampton etc. will.
Having said that, if you’re happy to look at mid to lower tier RG unis, you might be ok as many do not have specific criteria (you can check online). As others have said, be careful with your Criminology. I’d check the universities you’re interested in to see if they accept it. You might find that they do, but may not accept sociology etc alongside it. As they are not seen as preferred subjects at some unis.
Additionally, HE is going through a bit of a crisis. My sibling is applying this year for 2026 (not law), and they’ve found 3/6 of their top choices have dropped their entry requirements by one grade for 2026 v 2025. By 2030, the forecast for UK student roll numbers is set to drop compared to now. Alongside this and the cut in international student numbers, some universities may start to drop their admissions criteria a bit. It is doubtful it’ll be places like UCL, LSE etc. for law, but maybe places like Liverpool and Southampton etc. will.
What evidence do you have that (anecdotal or objective) that top RG universities would view OP’s choices as “weaker”? Law has no specific entry requirements and OP’s choices minus the criminology should be absolutely fine. Law and Sociology are fine.
The only top universities or universities point blank that I’ve seen that have a list of preferred subjects are LSE and UCL then possibly Cambridge.
Even then Sociology is on the list of preferred/traditional subjects for LSE:
https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Admissions-Information
Then it’s the same for UCL I think.
Reply 5
You answered your own question! “OP’s choices minus the criminology should be absolutely fine”. Top RG like KCL could take a dim view on Criminology as it is WJEC.
Sociology alongside another 2 academic subjects wouldn’t be an issue at all - you are correct in saying it is often on a preferred list (where they exist at top unis). But pairing it with Criminology is a risk. By definition of a few examples (as below) it could weaken the OP’s chances. That is why I said have a shuffle around and recommended something like English instead.
I also said that the combination the OP currently has probably wouldn’t be an issue for mid tier universities, even RG, where they don’t have specific requirements, but it would be prudent to check out the Criminology and any caveats with admissions before committing to study it.
For example:
UoM states: We accept the WJEC Level 3 Diploma in Criminology as equivalent to an A-level IF taken alongside 2 full A-Levels (one of which must be grade A*) from the list of acceptable subjects above.
Cambridge states: We do not accept Applied Certificates and Diplomas for any courses at Cambridge. (I stand to be corrected, but I think Criminology is such).
LSE: The LSE does not specifically list the WJEC Criminology diploma on its general admissions information as a "non-preferred" or "preferred" subject.
The critical consensus from student forums is that some Russell Group universities, including LSE, might not view the applied diploma as a full "academic" A-Level equivalent for entry requirements.
So the OP would need to consider this sort of caveat if they did take the combination of subjects they are considering. I think that is sage advice and it is wise of OP to be considering the combination before starting. To say otherwise I think is a little misleading and not necessarily the best advice, especially if they want to aim for the top unis for law.
Sociology alongside another 2 academic subjects wouldn’t be an issue at all - you are correct in saying it is often on a preferred list (where they exist at top unis). But pairing it with Criminology is a risk. By definition of a few examples (as below) it could weaken the OP’s chances. That is why I said have a shuffle around and recommended something like English instead.
I also said that the combination the OP currently has probably wouldn’t be an issue for mid tier universities, even RG, where they don’t have specific requirements, but it would be prudent to check out the Criminology and any caveats with admissions before committing to study it.
For example:
UoM states: We accept the WJEC Level 3 Diploma in Criminology as equivalent to an A-level IF taken alongside 2 full A-Levels (one of which must be grade A*) from the list of acceptable subjects above.
Cambridge states: We do not accept Applied Certificates and Diplomas for any courses at Cambridge. (I stand to be corrected, but I think Criminology is such).
LSE: The LSE does not specifically list the WJEC Criminology diploma on its general admissions information as a "non-preferred" or "preferred" subject.
The critical consensus from student forums is that some Russell Group universities, including LSE, might not view the applied diploma as a full "academic" A-Level equivalent for entry requirements.
So the OP would need to consider this sort of caveat if they did take the combination of subjects they are considering. I think that is sage advice and it is wise of OP to be considering the combination before starting. To say otherwise I think is a little misleading and not necessarily the best advice, especially if they want to aim for the top unis for law.
Reply 6
Original post
by BarryScott2022You answered your own question! “OP’s choices minus the criminology should be absolutely fine”. Top RG like KCL could take a dim view on Criminology as it is WJEC.
Sociology alongside another 2 academic subjects wouldn’t be an issue at all - you are correct in saying it is often on a preferred list (where they exist at top unis). But pairing it with Criminology is a risk. By definition of a few examples (as below) it could weaken the OP’s chances. That is why I said have a shuffle around and recommended something like English instead.
I also said that the combination the OP currently has probably wouldn’t be an issue for mid tier universities, even RG, where they don’t have specific requirements, but it would be prudent to check out the Criminology and any caveats with admissions before committing to study it.
For example:
UoM states: We accept the WJEC Level 3 Diploma in Criminology as equivalent to an A-level IF taken alongside 2 full A-Levels (one of which must be grade A*) from the list of acceptable subjects above.
Cambridge states: We do not accept Applied Certificates and Diplomas for any courses at Cambridge. (I stand to be corrected, but I think Criminology is such).
LSE: The LSE does not specifically list the WJEC Criminology diploma on its general admissions information as a "non-preferred" or "preferred" subject.
The critical consensus from student forums is that some Russell Group universities, including LSE, might not view the applied diploma as a full "academic" A-Level equivalent for entry requirements.
So the OP would need to consider this sort of caveat if they did take the combination of subjects they are considering. I think that is sage advice and it is wise of OP to be considering the combination before starting. To say otherwise I think is a little misleading and not necessarily the best advice, especially if they want to aim for the top unis for law.
Sociology alongside another 2 academic subjects wouldn’t be an issue at all - you are correct in saying it is often on a preferred list (where they exist at top unis). But pairing it with Criminology is a risk. By definition of a few examples (as below) it could weaken the OP’s chances. That is why I said have a shuffle around and recommended something like English instead.
I also said that the combination the OP currently has probably wouldn’t be an issue for mid tier universities, even RG, where they don’t have specific requirements, but it would be prudent to check out the Criminology and any caveats with admissions before committing to study it.
For example:
UoM states: We accept the WJEC Level 3 Diploma in Criminology as equivalent to an A-level IF taken alongside 2 full A-Levels (one of which must be grade A*) from the list of acceptable subjects above.
Cambridge states: We do not accept Applied Certificates and Diplomas for any courses at Cambridge. (I stand to be corrected, but I think Criminology is such).
LSE: The LSE does not specifically list the WJEC Criminology diploma on its general admissions information as a "non-preferred" or "preferred" subject.
The critical consensus from student forums is that some Russell Group universities, including LSE, might not view the applied diploma as a full "academic" A-Level equivalent for entry requirements.
So the OP would need to consider this sort of caveat if they did take the combination of subjects they are considering. I think that is sage advice and it is wise of OP to be considering the combination before starting. To say otherwise I think is a little misleading and not necessarily the best advice, especially if they want to aim for the top unis for law.
Yeah but it’s specifically therefore criminology being the issue (regardless of how “academic/weak” their other subjects are), not their subjects as a whole. For Law in general, it doesn’t matter what A-level subjects you take as universities usually have no specific subject requirements.
The whole idea of weak vs strong subjects has been scrapped by many universities. They won’t care whether you did Music, Sociology and English for Law vs Psychology, Law and English for Law provided that you meet the entry requirements.
Doing criminology could pose issues regardless of overall subject combination. It’s the criminology that’s the main issue for OP that they should consider switching or double checking with universities to see whether they accept the qualification or not. The fact that they are doing sociology alongside it is irrelevant for a subject like Law or in general.
OP therefore needs to be doing 3 A-level subjects that they can excel in, they don’t necessarily need to be “traditional”, doesn’t need to include History or English if that’s not what OP wants to do. Even then, OP meets the requirements of having “traditional/preferred” subjects already with the sociology and law. Sociology already is considered to be an academic subject.
Reply 7
Yes, that’s what I was getting at. I think we’re in agreement that Criminology weakens the OP’s offering. It is a shame as it is a really interesting subject!
Reply 8
Original post
by livv17xxxxI’m starting Sixth Form next year, I've chosen to do Criminology, Sociology and Law. I’m worried about not being able to get into a good uni in the future since apparently these are considered as weaker options to study Law. I’m not interested in going to the top unis such as Oxford, Cambridge etc but ideally still a Russell Group. I really don’t want to do a traditional subject such as English or History. I’m predicted mostly 8s and some 7s in GCSES and I’m honestly now just stressing out please someone give me advice 😫
Avoid Criminology if it's not an A Level if your aim is top universities.
Pick your 3 best academic A Level course interests to ensure top results.
Reply 9
OP, as others have suggested, ditch Criminology. It's a subject that has little to do with the law anyway. It's a sub-division of sociology. It's an interesting subject in some ways, but at sixth form level it's frankly a bit Mickey Mouse.
Why do you wish to study law? A degree from a second or third tier university is frankly of little use if you hope for a career in the legal profession.
Why do you wish to study law? A degree from a second or third tier university is frankly of little use if you hope for a career in the legal profession.
Reply 10
Original post
by livv17xxxxI’m starting Sixth Form next year, I've chosen to do Criminology, Sociology and Law. I’m worried about not being able to get into a good uni in the future since apparently these are considered as weaker options to study Law. I’m not interested in going to the top unis such as Oxford, Cambridge etc but ideally still a Russell Group. I really don’t want to do a traditional subject such as English or History. I’m predicted mostly 8s and some 7s in GCSES and I’m honestly now just stressing out please someone give me advice 😫
The will be looking for essay writing subjects. I think these will be acceptable by all but some top institutions that may prefer the traditional Eng Lit, History etc.
Reply 11
14
Original post
by Welcome99The will be looking for essay writing subjects. I think these will be acceptable by all but some top institutions that may prefer the traditional Eng Lit, History etc.
This isn't correct. Universities do not "look for essay writing subjects" as part of their admissions criteria but rather that you have secured strong results in academically rigorous subjects. An applicant with strong STEM subject results, for example, will be considered equally. A different point is whether those who have experience of the demands of essay writing, the associated critical thought and ability to express themselves may be better suited to the course.
Reply 12
Original post
by livv17xxxxI’m starting Sixth Form next year, I've chosen to do Criminology, Sociology and Law. I’m worried about not being able to get into a good uni in the future since apparently these are considered as weaker options to study Law. I’m not interested in going to the top unis such as Oxford, Cambridge etc but ideally still a Russell Group. I really don’t want to do a traditional subject such as English or History. I’m predicted mostly 8s and some 7s in GCSES and I’m honestly now just stressing out please someone give me advice 😫
Hi, I just thought I would share my personal experience so that it might give you some reassurance.
I did A-level Law, Politics and English, which is a combination people sometimes describe as “non-traditional” or worry about when it comes to studying Law. I remember feeling similar stress in sixth form and questioning whether my subject choices would hold me back.
Fast forward to now, and I’m currently studying on the MA Law Conversion course at ULaw, and my A-levels did not prevent me from progressing into law. What mattered much more was how I developed my writing, critical thinking, and analytical skills, which are exactly what law degrees rely on.
Coming into law from those subjects actually helped me feel comfortable with legal concepts, essay writing, and evaluating arguments. Everyone in my course has come from very different academic backgrounds, and there isn’t one “correct” set of A-levels that guarantees success.
I know it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by what you read online, but from my own journey, subject combinations that build strong skills even if they’re sometimes labelled as “softer” can still lead you into law. I mainly wanted to share this to reassure you, from personal experience, that your subjects don’t automatically stop you from studying law.
You’re definitely not alone in feeling this way.
Happy to answer any other questions!
Kind regards,
Faith
MA Law Conversion Student University of Law Student Ambassador
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